From UX Engineer to Apprentice Woodworker on top of a mountain.
Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
331–340 of 881 posts
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#332Woodworker. From running two small ecommerce companies I think I've learned enough about MVP, shipping, inventory management, etc. From 25 years as a software engineer I've learned about building tools to automate steps. I'd pick some "hard to find / expensive niche (e.g. Greene and Greene, Art Nouveau, etc.), but offer repeatable designs, not do custom work. That would allow for lots of jigs, fixtures, using cheap m…
This reminds me of Matthias Wandel. He's really one of the most impressive woodworkers I've ever seen. It's so clear to me that he still thinks like a software engineer.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#333Farmer.
That is the career I moved to after establishing a career as a developer. Being around all the high tech machines on the farm has gotten me quite interested in mechanical engineering of late, so if I were to make the switch again, it may be in that direction. Especially, to bring things full circle, with a focus on integrating my software experience into those machines; robots and such.
I'm in 100% agreement. The first time I ever fixed anything mechanical was when the pulley on my push lawnmower broke. I thought to myself: "If I can write an iOS app, then this is nothing."
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#334Navy SEAL
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#335Woodworker. From running two small ecommerce companies I think I've learned enough about MVP, shipping, inventory management, etc. From 25 years as a software engineer I've learned about building tools to automate steps. I'd pick some "hard to find / expensive niche (e.g. Greene and Greene, Art Nouveau, etc.), but offer repeatable designs, not do custom work. That would allow for lots of jigs, fixtures, using cheap m…
Manufacturing of any kind is as competitive as hell.
Certainly it is possible to succeed there, but I think many manufacturers are already far ahead of the average software shop in terms of automation.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#336Was just there two days ago, that place is like an engineer's wet dream.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#337Politics. The only way to fix the broken stuff in the world.
I have stood in a bunch of elections and lost them all. I'm not dissuaded yet.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#338Flight instructor/local commercial pilot. The pay is garbage compared to software development but if you're an independent CFI there is as much time freedom as there is being a remote dev, and the pay is still good enough to cover all the necessities.
I used to flight instruct in my twenties. Couldn't make a decent living in aviation and had to switch to something else. Software development has its benefits, but having an office in the cloud beats everything else.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#339I did stop being a developer for a year and a half in order to work for a video game publisher as a producer. I really enjoyed it, worked on five games (four of which were released on Nintendo, Microsoft, or Sony consoles), got to go on fun business trips to game conferences, and got to meet some important people in the industry, but I got nervous not programming for that long because I thought my skills were atrophy…
Could you tell us about how you got into video game publishing? I'd love to make the transition myself.
Re: Ask HN: If you were to switch career, what would you do?
#340Earlier quoted context omitted.
Although it's changing, books for me has largely been about someone taking the time to actually plan out, organize and go into detail on the topic. Blogs and release notes are good for staying up to date or for figuring out a work around. They "used" to be not so good at the getting started part. Fundamentals are still better off starting with a book before moving to online imo.
"Although it's changing, books for me has largely been about someone taking the time to actually plan out, organize and go into detail on the topic." I agree, except I don't think it's changing, because the end artifact of "plan out, organize and go into detail on the topic" I would still call a "book", regardless of how its delivered.
What I meant by changing is that online content has gone up in quality since the introduction of MOOC's and the realization that decent money can be made from training. What used to be semi-random collections of tips and tricks have turned into full blown courses.